HEALTH MATTERS: NHS Highland chief executive Pamela Dudek outlines new strategy for a brighter future
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NHS Highland are developing a strategy; Together We Care. This will be used to shape NHS Highland’s approach over the next five years to build a brighter future for health and care.
Why does NHS Highland need a strategy? The demand on Highland’s healthcare service is increasing and this will continue. The health board needs to make sure that its services can cope with this, now and in the future.
NHS Highland needs to focus on the health outcomes for their communities and on their workforce by making sure that they are supported to carry out their roles effectively and that they provide the right care, at the right time, for the people who need our services. In order to achieve these ambitions NHS Highland needs a common set of goals and aims which everyone understands. Having a clear strategy will help to do this.
A lot of strategies are created before the general population get to see them. This one is different. NHS Highland is asking that this is devised by you; we want to pull together thoughts and ideas from the population, workforce and partners so that the strategy is created by the people of the Highlands, for the people of the Highlands.
Through conversations held over the past two years, NHS Highland have identified five key areas to focus on: population, people, pathways, performance and progress. Within each of these areas there are suggested aims and imperatives to provide a basis for a conversation. However, NHS Highland are asking for your input and ideas so that they can learn which of these are most important to you. This will enable them to prioritise those elements which most impact the quality of care you receive and turn them into objectives for the future.
Over the next few months, NHS Highland will be reaching out and asking you to engage with us. Executive members of the board will be visiting local communities and NHS services across Highland to listen to your thoughts and ideas (information on this can be accessed on our website at https://tinyurl.com/4zc6mt6v). They will be asking you to join interactive online sessions to tell us what you think is important.
If you don’t already, then NHS Highland are encouraging you to follow their social media pages (Facebook/Twitter:
@NHSHighland) and get involved by commenting on their activity! Follow the link (https://forms.office.com/r/519bjRi4Sb) and complete the online survey. Another way you can engage is to email or write to us at nhsh.listening@nhs.scot or Freepost RUAK-JGSH-TUUL, Clinical Governance Team, NHS Highland, Together We Care, Assynt House, NHS Highland IV2 3BW.
If you wish us to engage directly with your community, organisation or third sector group in Highland, then please get in touch at the above email address.
NHS Highland are keen to engage and hear all of your thoughts and ideas. We will read every post-it note, letter, comment, survey response, email and idea that you send. These will be analysed in order to assess what areas you, the population, think are most important. NHS Highland will feed this back to you, so please keep your ears open to local radio, and your eyes on the local press and social media; they will be letting you know how the strategy is progressing!
NHS Highland need you to engage now; without your input, ideas and thoughts, we cannot create the Together We Care strategy.
Let’s build a brighter future for health and care. Together.
Pamela Dudek is chief executive of NHS Highland
